Friday, February 09, 2007
Monday, February 05, 2007
Pale Rider
My friend (and across-the-board "enemy") Eric Shoemaker of the Reno Chess Club has renamed his blog Pale Rider (formerly The Sage in the Tower) and redone the theme and contents to reflect a Clint Eastwood-like 'gunfighter' approach to chess. Very interesting, Eric!
He also has a blog of his best games, but since it's not linked anywhere except his profile page it's probably gone unnoticed by the chess world--until now.
He has some interesting stories to tell about his chess career, and competing in the U.S. Amateur Teams on a squad that included the superb chess writer IM John Watson and the noted IM Cyrus Lakdawala. I hope I can get him to share some of them on the blog.
He also has a blog of his best games, but since it's not linked anywhere except his profile page it's probably gone unnoticed by the chess world--until now.
He has some interesting stories to tell about his chess career, and competing in the U.S. Amateur Teams on a squad that included the superb chess writer IM John Watson and the noted IM Cyrus Lakdawala. I hope I can get him to share some of them on the blog.
My Queen Sacrifice!
Well, I don't know if you'd really call it a sacrifice, since I get more than enough for the queen. From my game with Qxh7# at Red Hot Pawn. He's a very gracious opponent.
I'll bet he was pretty shocked by 18. ... Nxc4, and even if it wasn't a real sacrifice I think it has a certain aesthetic quality.
The finish was 19. Bc5xe7 Bg7d4 20. Kg1h1 Nc4e3
21. Qc2a4 Bb7xg2 22. Kh1h2 Bd4e5 23. Kh2g1 Bg2xf1 24. Be7c5 Be5xc3
25. Bc5xe3 Bf1xh3 26. bxc3 Re8xe3 27. Qa4c6 Ra8e8 28. Qc6xc7 Re8c8
29. Qc7xa7 Rc8xc3 30. Qa7b8 Kg8g7 31. Qb8b2 Kg7h6 32. a4 Re3g3 33. Kg1h1 Bh3f5
34. Qb2d2 g5 35. Qd2d6 Kh6h5 36. Qd6e7 Kh5h4 37. Qe7b4 Kh4h3 38. Ra1g1 Bf5g4 0-1
I'll bet he was pretty shocked by 18. ... Nxc4, and even if it wasn't a real sacrifice I think it has a certain aesthetic quality.
The finish was 19. Bc5xe7 Bg7d4 20. Kg1h1 Nc4e3
21. Qc2a4 Bb7xg2 22. Kh1h2 Bd4e5 23. Kh2g1 Bg2xf1 24. Be7c5 Be5xc3
25. Bc5xe3 Bf1xh3 26. bxc3 Re8xe3 27. Qa4c6 Ra8e8 28. Qc6xc7 Re8c8
29. Qc7xa7 Rc8xc3 30. Qa7b8 Kg8g7 31. Qb8b2 Kg7h6 32. a4 Re3g3 33. Kg1h1 Bh3f5
34. Qb2d2 g5 35. Qd2d6 Kh6h5 36. Qd6e7 Kh5h4 37. Qe7b4 Kh4h3 38. Ra1g1 Bf5g4 0-1
Friday, February 02, 2007
The Most Fantastic Moves Ever
Via Dennis Monokroussos' outstanding Chess Mind, we found Tim Krabbe's Top Ten here. Explore the whole great Chess Curiousities site--we'll be adding it to the sidebar shortly.
I think every chessplayer has an affinity for moves that look ridiculous, crazy or 'impossible' and turn out to be excellent. The very best are the ones that look like the worst move on the board, but turn out to be the best move on the board...
'Fantastic' has the same root as fantasy, and we could all do with some development in this area, except perhaps for Alekhine, Marshall and Kasparov and their ilk. So here are a couple that didn't make the Top Ten, but that I found particularly enchanting:
21. Qa8!! and Black resigned (1-0)
Panczyk-Schurade, Zakopane 1978
1.Bg5!! h1Q 2.Qe8+ Kg7 3.Qg6+ Kf8 4.Qxf6+ Kg8 5.Qd8+ Kg7 6.Qe7+ Kg8 7.Qe8+ and Black resigned (1-0)
Simagin-Bronstein, Moscow 1947
If you don't find these inspiring, there are 108 more over at the link. You'll have to go there to see #1, as well.
I think every chessplayer has an affinity for moves that look ridiculous, crazy or 'impossible' and turn out to be excellent. The very best are the ones that look like the worst move on the board, but turn out to be the best move on the board...
'Fantastic' has the same root as fantasy, and we could all do with some development in this area, except perhaps for Alekhine, Marshall and Kasparov and their ilk. So here are a couple that didn't make the Top Ten, but that I found particularly enchanting:
21. Qa8!! and Black resigned (1-0)
Panczyk-Schurade, Zakopane 1978
1.Bg5!! h1Q 2.Qe8+ Kg7 3.Qg6+ Kf8 4.Qxf6+ Kg8 5.Qd8+ Kg7 6.Qe7+ Kg8 7.Qe8+ and Black resigned (1-0)
Simagin-Bronstein, Moscow 1947
If you don't find these inspiring, there are 108 more over at the link. You'll have to go there to see #1, as well.
Thursday, February 01, 2007
Missed Opportunity (?)
From a game against Expert Ernie Hong at last year's "Hot August Knights" tournament:
I looked at Nxc1 for a long time, and somehow was afraid of Qxa5; but in that case doesn't Nxd3 cause White a lot of problems?
I don't have the killer software available right now, so if somebody can shed a little light on this position with their computer or their excellent analytical skills, I'd appreciate it.
LATER, "AFTER FURTHER REVIEW": I was able to spend some more time with the position and it seems to me that after 23. ... Nxc1 24. Qxa5 Nxd3 25. ed Bxd3+ 26. Kg1, Black probably has to play Qd7, because all the beautiful tactics don't work--the White Queen guards e1.
In the game I finally played 23. ... Bxb2, which was okay, but eventually lost. Still, it was a pretty good effort, but I kept feeling later like there ought to be something in the diagram for Black.
I looked at Nxc1 for a long time, and somehow was afraid of Qxa5; but in that case doesn't Nxd3 cause White a lot of problems?
I don't have the killer software available right now, so if somebody can shed a little light on this position with their computer or their excellent analytical skills, I'd appreciate it.
LATER, "AFTER FURTHER REVIEW": I was able to spend some more time with the position and it seems to me that after 23. ... Nxc1 24. Qxa5 Nxd3 25. ed Bxd3+ 26. Kg1, Black probably has to play Qd7, because all the beautiful tactics don't work--the White Queen guards e1.
In the game I finally played 23. ... Bxb2, which was okay, but eventually lost. Still, it was a pretty good effort, but I kept feeling later like there ought to be something in the diagram for Black.
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